The flower-like and dendritic silver micro-nanocrystals with multi-stage structure were prepared by liquid phase reduction method by adjusting the molar ratio of oxidant silver nitrate to reducing agent ascorbic acid. The effects of reaction media on the size and morphology of silver crystallite was investigated. The morphology

crystal structure

optical and catalytic properties of the products were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

X-ray diffraction (XRD)

surface enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy (SERS) and UV-Vis reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The XRD results show that both the flower-like and dendritic silver micro-nanocrystals have face-centered cubic crystal structure

and (111) plane is the dominant crystal plane exposed on the surface of Ag crystals. The SERS surveys show that the hierarchical structure Ag micro-nanocrystals are excellent substrates for SERS. The UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra shows that the dendritic silver has a strong absorption peak at 352 nm because of the finer microstructure. The catalytic reduction experiment of 4-nitrophenol by sodium borohydride on the silver crystals reveals that the dendritic silver shows excellent catalytic activity.